Every year the Boothbay Region Garden Club participates in what is normally a walk for breast cancer awareness. This year, due to COVID-19, the event, held in Damariscotta on Saturday, Oct. 17 became a car parade with vehicles and participants sporting their best pink!

Abbie Shaw, Vanda Yonge, Shelly Maher and Gloria Howard came out on top in the decorated car competition and took their fun and laughter all the way back to Boothbay Harbor to share their enthusiasm. They drove through the downtown area waving ribbons and honking their horn to broaden breast cancer awareness in the local community.

Shelly Maher, breast cancer survivor, was given a survivor t-shirt along with a box of goodies from Avon. The group also received a special bag of pink popcorn from Coastal Popcorn! Team leader, Brigitte Smith, along with Irene Gerny and Melissa Thornton also represented the Garden Club with a second vehicle in the parade.

Neither wind and rain nor pandemic constraints could dampen the celebration of this worthwhile annual fundraiser. Numerous individual donors contributed to the BRGC team effort to support the American Cancer Society in the fight against breast cancer.

According to Theresa Freeman of the American Cancer Society, there were 14 cars who attended (plus six police vehicles and two staff cars.).

“We were so excited to see the community come out in a safe and fun way to celebrate breast cancer survivors,” said Freeman in an email to the newspaper. “One participant remarked that despite the rain, they all had ‘sunshine in their hearts!’”

“We’re still working toward our goal of $65,000 in donations this year. We encourage our neighbors to register for the event at MakingStridesWalk.org/DamariscottaME, and we can work with them to come up with creative fundraising ideas. It could be as simple as dedicating your walk around your neighborhood.” said Freeman.

Besides the BRGC team winning the decorating contest, they are also currently the top fundraising team, according to Freeman.